by NM-GRL
It’s been a long time since I posted anything and I’ve been so bogged down that I’ve missed some Saturday Sanity’s…Here’s a quick report on what’s going on in the garden!
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had rain! Last week a front stalled and it was rainy and gray for a few days in a row. This was not part of our normal weather pattern here. Over the last few days we had several real “monsoon” type events, which is more normal, but a bit early in the season. The big clouds come up over the mountains and dump rain. I saw the first faint rainbow of the season, too!
Today, I picked the last of the peaches…very early peaches because the tree is located in that protected corner. I had a wonderful yield this year, the best ever, even though I shared some with the squirrels and the bugs (no pesticides, none!). I bagged them and the rains did seem to make some rot as they were near full ripeness…but, nonetheless, I was thrilled with the harvest!!
Of course, since the new tree is planted and doing well, this one will be gone. For now, I will prune a lot so that eggplants get some sun. I’ll see how the other tree does this winter before getting the current one out.
I’ve bagged up about half the Flame grapes and will do the rest any minute now. I hope the ones already bagged won’t rot, but they should be OK since they are not near ripening at all.
This morning I picked 5 string beans! Well, I only have 3 plants. If I had known we were going to have a nice wet spring with gentle temperatures I would have planted more! These plants are just the leftover seed I threw into the ground with the plan never to plant string beans again here in the high desert, and up out of the valley. Of course, this is the year I would have done well if I had planted more.
So, here’s a pic of some of the peaches I picked earlier this week! I will cherish the memory of these forever…
PEACHES!
Open Range Ramblings 
I keep watching for more from your garden. The peaches are lovely, almost look real enough to grab one and munch. I’m glad the squirrels left you some. Did they get all your grapes, or were you able to save them?
Sorry – Lilac
Gorgeous peaches GRL! I’ve got some pics taken right before the Lilca Festival sitting in my camera – keep meaning to send them but life gets in the way…
Please remind us of the reason you plan to pull out a producing fruit tree. I remember you wrote something about it earlier in the year, but do not remember what it was.
The location of the tree is a problem. First, it’s in a protected corner and starts to bud out in late January-February because the two walls get warm. Which means, many times the blossoms are hit by cold. This year is an exception as we’ve been pretty mild all winter/spring!
Secondly, the squirrels just hop on the wall and eat! I bag the peaches with brown paper bags, but they still get to them and the bugs certainly do especially with all the rain.
Third, the darn thing grows like crazy and shades the veg garden way too much in the morning. Which means constant pruning even when it’s not a good time to prune! The tree is about 9 years old and about half way done in terms of productive life here in this climate from what I read.
I plan to stick in a bird of paradise which will not require the water and also provide only light, filtered shading once it gets big enough. I love them, too! The yellow and red is great and I’ve got another couple growing elsewhere on the other side of the yard and enjoy them a lot. And, I probably can get one for free as they seed and there are also lots of them growing in the arroyo.
This spring I planted another peach tree in a, hopefully, a better location. It shouldn’t start budding out so early. And, it’s quite far from the squirrels. I can see the tree from my bedroom window. The shade will help keep that room cooler, too, on hot mornings.